Randy Smith
As I watched with great interest the college football classic that is known as the "Iron Bowl" last Saturday, I found myself pulling for neither team as Auburn took a 33-21 lead over Alabama in the third quarter. I was just interested in watching a great game, which it was. All of a sudden, I realized if Auburn wins this football game, there will likely be no SEC team making it to the College Football Playoff final four. Being the SEC purest that I am, I started pulling for the Crimson Tide to pull it out.
Thankfully, they did and if they can somehow scrape past Missouri in the SEC Championship Game this weekend in Atlanta, Coach Nick Saban's crew will probably face defending National Champ Florida State in the Sugar Bowl, as one of the two semi-final games.
Do I think the Seminoles will get past a very good Georgia Tech team in the ACC Championship game in Charlotte? Yes, even though it wouldn't surprise me at all if the Yellowjackets pull the upset. Of course, it's not a "given" that Alabama is going to beat Missouri, but I think they will have less trouble winning than FSU will.
If you remember, only a few weeks ago, there were three SEC teams ranked in the college football playoff poll's top four. Alabama, Ole Miss and Mississippi State. The league itself took care of that scenario as teams began to knock each other off. 'Bama is the only one of those teams to come out unscathed, and right now, the Tide is playing its best football of the season; at the right time.
As I said when those SEC powers were all ranked in the top four, the poll means nothing now. The one that comes out this Sunday is the one that counts. The final poll of the season for the College Football Playoff will be announced and after the playoffs are set, the other bowl games will fall into place. Oregon and TCU will more likely than not face each other in the other semi-final.
Even though the new playoff format is catching a lot of heat, I am not complaining at all. It's still much better than the old BCS system; you remember....the one that allowed computers to pick the final two teams to play for the title. The only criticism I have now, is the playoff really needs to have eight teams rather than four. I fully expect the field to be expanded within a couple of years.
As far as the SEC predictions for the 2014 season goes, I did pretty well in picking winners. 90 out of 110 games I chose correctly. Now, I failed math in three states but I know enough to figure out that's a percentage of 82%.
In the SEC Championship Game Saturday in Atlanta, Alabama is favored over Missouri. The Tigers fooled everybody once again, by winning two big games on the road, then knocking off red hot Arkansas in Columbia on the last weekend of the season. Missouri is a good, solid football team. They are well-coached and have good senior leadership, but they will have a tough time beating Alabama. The Crimson Tide is more balanced than any team that Nick Saban has had in Tuscaloosa. My pick:
Alabama 28 Missouri 20.
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Randy Smith has been covering sports on radio, television and print for the past 45 years. After leaving WRCB-TV in 2009, he has written two books, and has continued to free-lance as a play-by-play announcer. He is currently teaching Broadcasting at Coahulla Creek High School near Dalton, Ga.
His career has included a 17-year stretch as host of the Kickoff Call In Show on the University of Tennessee’s prestigious Vol Network. He has been a member of the Vol Network staff for thirty years.
He has done play-by-play on ESPN, ESPN II, CSS, and Fox SportSouth, totaling more than 500 games, and served as a well-known sports anchor on Chattanooga Television for more than a quarter-century.
In 2003, he became the first television broadcaster to be inducted into the Greater Chattanooga Area Sports Hall of Fame. Randy and his wife Shelia reside in Hixson. They have two married children, (Christi and Chris Perry; Davey and Alison Smith.) They have four grandchildren, Coleman, Boone, DellaMae and CoraLee.
To contact Randy: rsmithsports@epbfi.com